First early-stage observations for Tenaga Clemens, 1862 with notes on biology and distribution of T. nigripunctella (Haworth, 1828) (Lepidoptera, Tineidae)

By

Sterling, Philip H
Stockwell, Joe
Oughton, Jack
Lees, David Conway 1959-

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-11-19

Original Publication

Nota lepidopterologica

Volume

48

Pages

277--288

Subjects

Black-spotted Nest Moth , Cornu aspersum , DNA barcode , Garden Snail

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Bonn,

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/nl.48.124083

 

Abstract

<br> Early stages of the tineid genus<br> Tenaga<br> Clemens, 1862 are reported for the first time, for<br> T. nigripunctella<br> (Haworth, 1828). Its larvae were found within the shells of dead Garden Snails<br> Cornu aspersum<br> (Müller, 1774), feeding on the dried body tissues. Larvae of the moth have been found, but not reared, among a range of detritus substrates, with traces of likely feeding observed on dry mouse droppings, and in a dead Western Honeybee<br> Apis mellifera<br> Linnaeus, 1758. Adults of the species have been seen annually since 2013 in a small area of Dorset, England. Historical and modern occurrences in Great Britain (until 1934) and country records elsewhere are reviewed, with new records reported for Lebanon and Syria. Two live larvae have been found within dead snail shells, one reared to the adult stage, the other was identified from its DNA barcode. Only a single COI-5P haplotype is known worldwide and ours is the fourth known DNA sequence. The taxonomic placement of the genus<br> Tenaga<br> , containing only two closely related species, sometimes placed in the family Meessiidae, is also discussed.<br>